Wednesday, 12 October 2016

Peter N visited Iceland between 19 and 29 September. Here is a
brief report of his birding and ringing activities:

Iceland is very very beautiful and very very expensive! Autumn is
actually quite a quiet time bird-wise to visit. The dominant species
are Redwing (Icelandic- dark and large) and Meadow pipit, both
preparing to migrate. My contact at the South East Iceland Ringing
Observatory was Brynjúlfur Brynjólfsson, known to everyone as
Binni. He very kindly drove me from Reykjavik to Hofn where the
observatory is based, stopping at some birding hot spots on the way
down. The town can also be accessed by plane (Eagle Air) and bus. The
Observatory has been established for more than 10 years and is the
result of a lot of hard work by Binni and his friend Bjussi. Each
year they ring c.30-35 species. It is based about half a mile outside
of Hofn, and is thus easily accessed:

Bird Observatory - by P Norrie

I had three mornings of ringing. The weather was… well let’s say
challenging, but we got some nets open each day. My ringing
list reflected the general birding, as follows: Redwing, Meadow pipit,
Wren (Icelandic subspecies- big!) Blackcap and Snipe (new ringing
species for me). On day two the boys kindly let me ring two Merlin, first year birds, male and female:

Merlin 1stW male - by P Norrie

Merlin 1stW female - by P Norrie

Fantastic! The obs usually gets a handful of Merlin every year, but
this was the first time they had had two on the same day; it must be
the SRG vibe working its magic. In the afternoons Binni invariably
took me birding, and we chalked up stonking views of Gyrfalcon and
Harlequin duck. He is a birding legend in Iceland and, while we were
out, spotted Iceland’s first confirmed Black Scoter. Many thanks to
Binni for his kindness and hospitality, and we hope he will visit us
in the near future. If you are passing his way he is always keen to
hear from birders (and ringers in particular), and can be contacted
on binni@bbprentum.com. I
plan to return in Spring 18, to see Iceland in the breeding season.
PETER